I'm Only Me When I'm With You
by Kazahana Yukina
Summary: He was Neji. She was Tenten. And they are only themselves when they're with each other. Neji X Tenten; AU


**Yep. From Taylor Swift's song again. =)**

**Disclaimer: Yukina doesn't own, in any way, any of the characters mentioned in the story.**

* * *

><p><strong>I'M ONLY ME WHEN I'M WITH YOU<strong>

'_What I feel is true'_

**….**

**….**

"That one looks like a contorted strawberry."

He wondered how on earth she could see those things as his eyes followed to where her petite finger was pointing at. He saw nothing, nevertheless it didn't stop his laugh. As if on cue, hers joined in the melody too.

He felt as the soft grass contorted to the outlines of his body. He heard their rustling as she shifted beside him, raising the other hand to point out at another 'invisible' and out of this world constellation.

He already knew that his eyes wouldn't see anything. Nonetheless he couldn't resist that childish tone of hers that oddly sounded like a toddler presenting her first drawing to her parents.

And so he chuckled again and looked up, hoping that he would see what she sees.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...  
><strong>

They were still but it was all right for the two of them.

The crickets were making melody to their ears, filling in for what was supposed to be deadpan placidity. They had long stopped guessing what kind of drawings the sky may reveal and instead chose to be still, watching the stars twinkle like fireflies stuck on a bluish black expanse.

He tilted his head to the side, wanting to see what she was doing. She heard him and so she gazed back.

He didn't really do anything more but stare. She knew it was coming but she giggled and flashed him a playful grin followed by a stick out of her tongue.

He shook his head in amusement, knowing words were not sufficient to level her pixie. Each other was more than enough.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...**

She grinned mischievously as he turned his gaze away, a hint of color evident on his cheeks. Her grin widened and so she raised her finger, poking him on the chest; teasing him.

He grunted but then chuckled as he flicked a finger on her forehead, watching as her eyes morphed from mirth to shock then to challenge.

Whatever was that topic earlier, that only the two of them knew, was forgotten as they turned the moment into an all out tackling war.

As he watched her laugh breathless after their little bout, he thought about how his life could have been so different if she weren't around.

He was sure it was boring and dull.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...  
><strong>

He hated to see her like this.

She had her face buried on her palms as she sat on the school yard, oblivious to his nearby presence. She had never been one to cry. But it never meant that she wasn't allowed to be depressed, at least not in front of everyone. She was content being alone here, seeing darkness until that feeling of failure melts away and she could go back to her old, jolly self.

She lifted her face from her palms when she heard the grass rustling. He was sitting in front of her, eyes clouding something she read as concern.

She shrugged and gave out a small, though broken smile. He nodded and shifted so he was beside her. He didn't really mind it when she laid her head on his shoulder. She owned it anyway.

And he refused to walk away not until she's still down.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...**

He blinked for what was like the umpteenth time that day.

She pouted at his response but then proceeded to scribble on the notebook _again_ as she tried to explain the ancestral connection of the doorknob and the grasshopper. Doodles here; doodles there. He blinked again, not really taking in a letter of what she was saying. Sometimes her mind just runs along the craziest ideas.

When she looked up, she wasn't surprised when his reaction was still the same.

She smirked, amused at his expression of confusion mixed with peculiarity. He looked up, seeing yet those familiar glowing eyes and smiled.

He didn't really know what ran into him, and he would later blame it on the spur of the moment albeit he never regretted it.

Casually he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. No it's not that passionate as what he sees in movies. It was brief, timid even and didn't even take five seconds. But when he leaned back, he was convinced in himself that he relayed what he wanted to relay without making her feel that he tarnished her dignity.

After a momentary pause where she stared dumbfounded and her cheeks flamed red, she nudged him on his shoulder with a knuckle after which she giggled shyly.

And it made him smile even wider.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...**

They watched astonished as Lee and Naruto wolfed down each their thirty third bowl of ramen, only to ask for another serving in return.

He sighed. Crazy people have the craziest ideas.

She blinked. Really, do those kinds of people even exist?

But when she felt her hand being squeezed by the other, she looked up and he shrugged.

Laughing, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Amidst a crazy world wherein people have a hard time finding reality, the two teenagers found it in each other.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...**

He kissed the crown of her head as she buried it on the crook of his neck.

Her shoulders were shuddering; her breathing labored; her eyes screaming out all crystals it could give. It was her dreaded anniversary: the anniversary of the day when her parents deserted her. Somehow, even though a couple of years had already passed, the feeling was as fresh as a new wound cutting into her very soul and filling her with pain and fear. She was like a toddler, haunted by the emptiness; forever fearful of the truth that people could abandon her like an unwanted puppy.

She never cried in front of people. But her self control was no good against him.

If he could do it, he would have pulled her closer, ensuring her of his presence. He knew of her fear for it was one of his too. If there was anyone who best understood her, it was him. He kissed the crown of her head once more when he felt her loosen up a bit, her wails turned to hiccups and eventually sniffles.

He knew in himself that he would always be by her side no matter what.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...**

She was comforted.

She knew he understood because he knew and she felt his heart. And she was sure he would always be there.

It made him ponder why he wasn't as open as he was with her.

People still labeled him as indifferent, uncaring and more words similar. But he was sure that whenever she was alone with him, he wasn't any of those things.

He was forced to be with the others alone because her part time job called upon her for a last minute help. He didn't really mind the company; just kept on shrugging, glaring, sighing, and answering one syllabic word with no particular meaning.

He grunted again when Naruto nudged him on the shoulder, jesting about his missing of her. Heck that dimwit blonde made his way into his brain. But instead of looking away, he shook his head amused, a small smirk showing.

But the smirk was nothing close to that smile only she had the privilege to see.

* * *

><p><strong>...<strong>

**...**

He was a genius.

She wasn't one, though she wasn't stupid either.

He was refined.

She was haphazard, fixing life on the last minutes.

He had a family.

She had none.

They were in every ways pole to pole. But yet, fates really do have a way to intertwine contrast paths that lead up to a joint harmony. And when it does, it would be a perfect match, never needing anybody else but each other.

He and she were two different individuals yet their hearts beat as one. They felt each other, whether the joy, the misery, the tease, the stillness, the contentment. And they journey side by side, not wanting the other to be left behind. If either of them had to stop, the other would willingly conform. Though one was as crazy in ways unimaginable, and the other one was as placid as a frozen lake, still it was a perfect match; a match made in heaven as what people would say.

He was Neji.

She was Tenten.

And they are only themselves when they're with each other.

* * *

><p><strong>I think (more like know) I overdid Neji's character…especially the tackling part…hehe…Pardon… <strong>

**I promise…I **_**really **_**promise to continue "Diaries" and "Being Snob". I just couldn't resist writing this one….**

**Um…pardon again? *shrugs***

**Oh well…**

**Yukina appreciates your taking a few minutes of your time to read her story. =)**

**Kami no gokago ga arimasu youni.**


End file.
